Colourful businessman Alan Bond has died of complications following heart surgery in Perth, Western Australia. He was 77.
The controversial personality – whose rollercoaster career swung from lowly signwriter to corporate hero and convicted fraudster – will be remembered for bankrolling Australia’s successful bid for the 1983 America’s Cup and his imprisonment for fraud in his role as head of the Bond Corporation.
Bond’s family paid tribute to him outside the Fiona Stanley Hospital in Perth following his death at midday today.
“His body finally gave out after heroic efforts of everyone involved here at the intensive care unit at Fiona Stanley hospital,” his son John Bond said.
“He never regained consciousness after his surgery on Tuesday.”
.JPG?resize=380%2C285)
“To a lot of people, Dad was a larger-than-life character who started with nothing and did so much,” he said.
“He really did experience the highs and lows of life.
“To us, however, he was just Dad – a father who tried his best to be the best dad he could.”
Bond had been in a coma in intensive care since following surgery to replace heart valves earlier this week.
After forming the Bond Corporation in 1959, Bond rose to become a public hero, particularly in his home state of WA. He was Australian of the Year in 1978.
In 1987 he paid Kerry Packer $1 billion for the Channel Nine Network, and famously sold it back for a quarter of the price years later as his business collapsed.
In 1992, however, he was declared bankrupt before being convicted of fraud and imprisoned for deceptively siphoning more than $1 billion into Bond Corporation.
